Venue & Catering Services
Description BackgroundUNICEF Suriname is seeking to establish a Long-Term Agreement (LTA) with a partner to provide venue services and catering for various meetings, trainings, workshops, and retreats.The purpose of this LTA is to ensure that UNICEF Suriname has access to a suitable venue that can accommodate various group sizes ranging from 15 to 150 participants. The venue should be available at one location, preferably within or near the Paramaribo Centrum.The need for a venue service is driven by UNICEF's commitment to improving the lives of children in Suriname. UNICEF has identified program effectiveness as a key area of focus in its workbook structure, which covers various output areas such as health, education, WASH, child protection, and survival and thrive. The venue will be utilized for meetings and events related to these areas.UNICEF Suriname has a history of conducting meetings, trainings, and workshops in variouslocations throughout the country. However, it has become increasingly important to have a reliable venue service provider that can meet UNICEF's needs in terms of capacity, flexibility, and accessibility. The LTA will ensure that UNICEF Suriname can plan and execute events with ease and efficiency, without the need to constantly search for suitable venues.In addition, catering services will be required for certain events, and the partner should have experience in providing these services.The major tasks to be accomplished by the partner include providing a clean and comfortable venue with appropriate seating arrangements, air conditioning, lighting, Wi-Fi, audiovisual equipment, and other necessary amenities. The partner should also be able to provide a range of catering options to meet the dietary needs of participants.Technical evaluation criteria will be used to select the partner, including experience in providing venue and catering services, capacity to provide venues of different sizes, availability of necessary equipment, responsiveness and flexibility, and price competitiveness.Overall, this LTA will be an important step in ensuring that UNICEF Suriname can continue to effectively serve the needs of children and their families in Suriname.Objectives, Purpose & Expected ResultsThe primary objective of this assignment is to establish a long-term agreement (LTA) with a venue services & a catering service provider to meet the requirements of UNICEF Suriname's meetings, staff retreats, trainings, and workshops. The purpose of this LTA is to ensure a consistent, high-quality venue that meets the diverse needs of UNICEF Suriname's programsand operations.The specific objectives of the LTA are as follows:· To provide UNICEF Suriname with a range of venue options suitablefor meetings, staff retreats, trainings, and workshops for groups of 15-20, 20-50, 50-150 participants. In addition, there is need to identify a catering service provider with a capacity to meet the needs of UNICEF.· To ensure that the venues are equipped with necessary amenitiessuch as tables, chairs, air conditioning, and Wi-Fi.· To provide audio-visual equipment and technical support to ensurethe smooth running of UNICEF Suriname's events.· To provide catering services that meet UNICEF Suriname'srequirements and standards.· To maintain a high level of cleanliness and hygiene at the venues._________________________________________________________________________________________REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR SERVICES Page 9 of 28 LRPS-2023-9184810_________________________________________________________________________________________The expected results of this assignment are:· Establishment of a long-term agreement with a venue services & acatering service provider that meets UNICEF Suriname's requirements and standards.· Provision of high-quality venues that meet the diverse needs ofUNICEF Suriname's programs and operations.· Smooth and efficient running of UNICEF Suriname's events,supported by quality audio-visual equipment and catering services.· Improved cost-effectiveness and efficiency in UNICEF Suriname'soperations through the establishment of a long-term agreement with a venue services provider.The objectives of this assignment are SMART, i.e., Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. The LTA will be established for a period of two years, with the option to extend for an additional year based on the performance of the vendor and the satisfaction of UNICEF Suriname.PART I - PURPOSE OF THIS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS FOR SERVICES3.1 The proposed LTA-S shall be valid for an initial period of 24 months, with a possible renewal for an additional period of 12 months.PART II - PROPOSAL SUBMISSION PROCESS1. Proposal Submission ScheduleCONTRACTUAL PROCESSThe schedule of the contractual process is as follows:ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE:1.Send Proposal: 16.08.20232.Questions and Answer if necessary: Until 24 August 2023.3.Consolidates Q & A posted in UNGM: August 28, 2023.4.Deadline for Proposals: September 14, 2023. Before 23:59 GMT5.Proposals Review: September 15, 2023.6.Evaluation Period/Review of Proposals: September 28, 2023, approximately7.Award Notice sent and posted in UNGM: September 29, 2023.8.Contract begins October 2023 approximately1.1 Acknowledgement of receipt of RFPS. Proposers are requested to inform UNICEF as soonas possible by email to Petal Meredith at guysur-supply@uniceef.org that they have received this RFPS.IMPORTANT: PROPOSALS ARE NOT TO BE SENT TO THE INDIVIDUAL STATED ABOVE -ANY PROPOSALS SENT TO THE ABOVE NAMED INDIVIDUAL WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.1.2 Questions from Proposers. Proposers are required to submit any questions in respect of this RFPS by EMAIL to Petal Meredith . The deadline for receipt of any questions is August 24, 2023, before 23:59 Guyana Time.IMPORTANT: PROPOSALS ARE NOT TO BE SENT TO THE INDIVIDUAL STATED ABOVE -ANY PROPOSALS SENT TO THE ABOVE NAMED INDIVIDUAL WILL BE DISQUALIFIED.Proposers are required to keep all questions as clear and concise as possible.Proposers are also expected to immediately notify UNICEF in writing of any ambiguities, errors,omissions, discrepancies, inconsistencies or other faults in any part of the RFPS, providing full details. Proposers will not benefit from such ambiguities, errors, omissions, discrepancies, inconsistencies or other faults._________________________________________________________________________________________REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR SERVICES Page 10 of 28 LRPS-2023-9184810_________________________________________________________________________________________UNICEF will compile the questions received. UNICEF may, at its discretion, at once copy any anonymized question and its reply to all other invited Proposers and/or post these on the UNICEF website and/or respond to the question at a bid conference. After any such bid conference , a Questions and Answers document may be prepared and posted on the UNICEF website.1.3 Amendments to RFPS Documents. At any time prior to the Submission Deadline, UNICEF may, for any reason, whether at its own initiative or in response to a clarification requested by a prospective Proposer, modify the RFPS documents by amendment. If the RFPS was available publicly online, amendments will also be posted publicly online. Further, all prospective Proposers that have received the RFPS documents directly from UNICEF will be notified in writing of all amendments to the RFPS documents. In order to afford prospective Proposers reasonable time in which to take the amendment into account in preparing their Proposals,UNICEF may, at its sole discretion, extend the Submission Deadline.1.4 Submission Deadline. The deadline for submission of proposals is as follows:September 14, 2023, no later than 23:59 of Guyana TimeAny proposals received by UNICEF after the Submission Deadline will be rejected.2. Language2.1 The Proposal prepared by the Proposer and all correspondence and documents relating to the Proposal exchanged by the Proposer and UNICEF, will be written in ENGLISH. Supporting documents and printed literature furnished by the Proposer may be in another language provided that they are accompanied by an appropriate translation in ENGLISH LANGUAGE.When interpreting the Proposal, the translated version of these supporting documents and printed literature will prevail over the original version of these documents. The sole responsibility for translation, including the accuracy of the translation, will rest with the Proposer.3. Validity of proposals; Modification and Clarifications; Withdrawal3.1 Validity Period. Proposers must indicate the validity period of their Proposal. Proposals should be valid for a period of not less than one hundred and twenty (120) days after the Submission Deadline. A Proposal valid for a shorter period of time shall not be further considered. UNICEF may request the Proposer to extend the validity period. The Proposal of Proposers who decline to extend the validity of their Proposal shall become disqualified as no longer valid.3.2 Other Changes. All changes to a Proposal must be received by UNICEF prior to the Submission Deadline. The Proposer must clearly indicate that the revised Proposal is a modification and supersedes the earlier version of the Proposal, or state the changes from the original Proposal.3.3 Withdrawal of Proposal. A Proposal may be withdrawn by the Proposer on e-mailed, faxed or written request received by UNICEF from the Proposer prior to Submission Deadline.Negligence on the part of the Proposer confers no right for the withdrawal of the Proposal after it has been opened.3.4 Clarifications Requested by UNICEF. During the evaluation of Proposals, UNICEF may, in its sole discretion, seek clarifications from any Proposer in order for UNICEF to fully understand the Proposer's Proposal and assist in the examination, evaluation and comparison of Proposals.UNICEF may seek such clarifications through written communications or may request an interview with any Proposer. During this clarification process, no change in the price or substance of the Proposal will be sought, offered or permitted, except as required in order to allow for correction of arithmetical errors discovered by UNICEF.3.5 References. UNICEF reserves the right to contact any or all references supplied by the Proposer(s) and to seek references from other sources as UNICEF deems appropriate.4. Eligibility; Proposer Information4.1 Proposer. The term "Proposer" refers to those companies that submit a proposal pursuant to _________________________________________________________________________________________REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR SERVICES Page 11 of 28 LRPS-2023-9184810_________________________________________________________________________________________this RFPS and "Proposal" refers to all the documents provided by the Proposer in its response to this RFPS. A Proposer will only be eligible for consideration if it complies with the representations set out in Part V of this RFPS, including the representations on ethical standards, including conflicts of interest.4.2 Joint Venture, Consortium or Association.(a) If the Proposer is a group of legal entities that will form or have formed a joint venture, consortium or association at the time of the submission of the Proposal, each such legal entity will confirm in their joint Proposal that:- they have designated one party to act as a lead entity, duly vested with authority to legallybind the members of the joint venture jointly and severally, and this will be evidenced by a Joint Venture Agreement among the legal entities, which will be submitted along with the Proposal;and- if they are awarded the LTA-S, the designated lead entity will enter into the LTA-S with UNICEF, who will be acting for and on behalf of all the member entities comprising the jointventure.(b) After the Proposal has been submitted to UNICEF, the lead entity identified to represent the joint venture will not be altered without the prior written consent of UNICEF.(c) If a joint venture's Proposal is the Proposal selected for award, UNICEF will award the LTA-S to the joint venture, in the name of its designated lead entity. The lead entity will sign the LTA-S for and on behalf of all other member entities.4.3 Proposals from Government Organizations. The eligibility of Proposers that are wholly or partly owned by the Government will be subject to UNICEF's further evaluation and review of various factors such as being registered as an independent entity, the extent of Government ownership/share, receipt of subsidies, mandate, access to information in relation to these RFPS documents, and others that may lead to undue advantage against other Proposers, and the eventual rejection of the Proposal.4.4 Proposals from organizations where the sole proprietor is a former or retired UNICEF/UN staff member. Any organization, whose sole proprietor is a former or retired staff member of UNICEF (or any other United Nations organization), which submits a Proposal must disclose this previous United Nations employment at the time of submission. Any such Proposal will be treated as though the Proposal came from an individual for the purposes of UNICEF's standard conditions on contracting former and retired members of staff.5. Preparation of Offer5.1 Proposers are responsible to inform themselves in preparing their Proposal. In this regard, the Proposers will ensure that they:- Examine all terms, requirements and formal submission instructions (e.g. regarding form and timing of submission, marking of envelopes, no price information in technical proposal etc.) included in the RFPS documents (including the Instructions to Proposers section);- Review the RFPS to ensure that they have a complete copy of all documents;- Review the standard UNICEF Contractual Provisions and the UNICEF General Terms and Conditions of Contract (Services) for the supply of services publicly available on the UNICEFSupply website: https://www.unicef.org/supply/resources/procurement-policies;- Review the UNICEF policies publicly available on the UNICEF Supply website:https://www.unicef.org/supply/resources/procurement-policies. In particular, Proposers should familiarize themselves with the obligations imposed on suppliers and their personnel and sub-contractors under the UNICEF Policy Prohibiting and Combatting Fraud and Corruption and the UNICEF Policy on Conduct Promoting the Protection and Safeguarding of Children;-Attend any bid conference if it is mandatory under this RFPS;-Fully inform and satisfy themselves as to requirements of any relevant authorities and laws that apply, or may in the future apply, to the supply of the services.Proposers acknowledge that UNICEF, its directors, employees and agents make norepresentations or warranties (express or implied) as to the accuracy or completeness of this _________________________________________________________________________________________REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR SERVICES Page 12 of 28 LRPS-2023-9184810_________________________________________________________________________________________RFPS or any other information provided to the Proposers.5.2 Failure to meet all requirements and instructions in the RFPS documents or to provide all requested information will be at the Proposer's own risk, and may result in rejection of the Proposer's Proposal.5.3 The Proposal must be organized to follow the format of this RFPS. Each Proposer must respond to the stated requests or requirements, and indicate that the Proposer understands and confirms acceptance of UNICEF's stated requirements. The Proposer should identify any substantive assumption made in preparing its offer. The deferral of a response to a question or issue to any contract negotiation stage is not acceptable. Any item not specifically addressed in the Proposal will be deemed as accepted by the Proposer. Incomplete or inadequate responses, lack of response or misrepresentation in responding to any questions will affect the evaluation of the Proposal.5.4 All references to descriptive materials should be included in the appropriate Proposal paragraph, though the material/documents themselves may be provided as annexes to the Proposal. The Proposer must also provide sufficient information in the Proposal to address each area of the evaluation criteria as presented in this document to allow a fair assessment of all of the Proposers and their Proposals. It is for UNICEF to determine, in its sole discretion, whether information provided is sufficient.5.5 The completed and signed Request for Proposal for Services Form must be submitted together with the Proposal. The Request for Proposal for Services Form must be signed by a duly authorized representative of the Organization/Company.5.6 Proposals must be clearly marked with the RFPS number.5.7 If answer sheets are provided by UNICEF then these must be completed by the Proposer.5.8 Technical Proposal: The Technical Proposal should address the criteria and requirements outlined in this RFPS, paying particular attention to its Terms of Reference/Statement of Work and its evaluation criteria. It is important to note that UNICEF actively welcomes innovative proposals and original solutions to the stated service need. NO PRICE INFORMATION SHOULD BE CONTAINED IN THE TECHNICAL PROPOSAL.5.9 Price Proposal: The Price Proposal should be prepared in accordance with therequirements contained in the Terms of Reference/Statement of Work for this RFPS.5.10 Each Proposer acknowledges that its participation in any stage of the solicitation process for this RFPS is at its own risk and cost. The Proposer is responsible for, and UNICEF is not responsible for, the costs of preparing its Proposal or response to this RFPS, attendance at any pre-submission conference, site visit, meetings or oral presentations, regardless of the conduct or outcome of the solicitation process.5.11 The Proposer's Proposal will include all of the following labelled annexes:Technical and Economic Proposals as Annex E&F as proposals must be in separate files6. Proposal Documents; Confidentiality6.1 This RFPS, together with all Proposal documents provided by the Proposer to UNICEF, will be considered the property of UNICEF and Proposals will not be returned to the Proposers.6.2 Information contained in the Proposal documents, which the Proposer considers to be its confidential information, should be clearly marked "confidential", next to the relevant part of the text, and UNICEF will treat such information accordingly.6.3 All information and documents provided to the Proposers by UNICEF ("RFPS Materials") shall be treated as confidential by the Proposers. If the Proposer declines to respond to this RFPS, or, if the Proposal is rejected or unsuccessful, the Proposer will promptly return all such RFPS Materials to UNICEF or destroy or delete all such RFPS Materials. The Proposer shall not use the RFPS Materials for any purpose other than the purpose of preparing a Proposal and shall not disclose the RFPS Materials to any third party, except: (a) with the prior written consent of UNICEF; (b) where the third party is assisting the Proposer in preparing the_________________________________________________________________________________________REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR SERVICES Page 13 of 28 LRPS-2023-9184810_________________________________________________________________________________________Proposal, provided the Proposer has previously ensured that party's adherence to this duty of confidentiality; (c) if the relevant RFPS Materials are at the time of this RFPS lawfully in the possession of the Proposer through a party other than UNICEF; (d) if required by law, and provided that the Proposer has previously informed UNICEF in writing of its obligation to disclose the RFPS Materials; or (e) if the RFPS Materials are generally and publicly available other than as a result of breach of confidence by the person receiving the RFPS Materials.7. Multiple proposals and proposals from related organizations7.1 Proposers shall not submit more than one Proposal as part of this RFPS process.7.2 If the Proposer is a group of legal entities that will form or have formed a joint venture, consortium or association at the time of the submission of the Proposal then neither the lead entity nor the member entities of the joint venture may submit another Proposal, either in its own capacity or as a lead entity or a member entity for another joint venture submitting another Proposal.7.3 UNICEF reserves the right to reject separate Proposals submitted by two or more Proposers if the Proposers are related organizations and are found to have any of the following:(a) they have at least one controlling partner, director or shareholder in common; or(b) any one of them receive or have received any direct or indirect subsidy from the other(s); or(c) they have a relationship with each other, that gives one or more Proposers access to confidential information about, or influence over, the other Proposal(s); or(d) they are subcontractors to each other's Proposal, or a subcontractor to one Proposal also submits another Proposal under its name as lead Proposer; or(e) an expert proposed to be in the team of one Proposer participates in more than one Proposal received for this solicitation process.PART III -AWARD/ADJUDICATION OF PROPOSALS1. Award1.1 Proposal Evaluation Process. The evaluation is carried out by UNICEF in accordance with UNICEF's regulations, rules and practices and all determinations are made in UNICEF's sole discretion.After opening the Proposals, UNICEF will carry out the following steps in the following order:First, each Proposal will be evaluated for compliance with the mandatory requirements of this RFPS. Proposals deemed not to meet all of the mandatory requirements will be considered non-compliant and rejected at this stage without further consideration. Failure to comply with any of the terms and conditions contained in this RFPS, including, but not limited to, failure to provide all required information, may result in a Proposal being disqualified from further consideration.Second, UNICEF will evaluate the Technical Proposal part for compliance with the technical requirements stated in this RFPS on the basis of the Proposal evaluation approach set out below.Third, UNICEF will undertake a commercial evaluation of the Price Proposal part of technically compliant Proposals on the basis of the Proposal evaluation approach set out below.1.2 Proposal Evaluation Approach.The evaluation criteria will be a split between technical and commercial (price proposal) scores (70/ 30).Proposals submitted in response to this RFPS should include and will be evaluated against the following:a) Technical EvaluationThe technical evaluation criteria can be found in Annex B Terms of Reference. RELEVANT, ENSURE YOU STATE WHETHER OR NOT PARTIAL PROPOSALS ARE ACCEPTABLETotal Maximum 70 PointsOnly Proposals which receive a minimum of 49 points will be considered further.b) Price Proposal (commercial evaluation)The total amount of points allocated for the price component is 30. The maximum number of points will be allotted to the lowest price proposal that is opened and compared among those invited firms/institutions which obtain the threshold points in the evaluation of the technical _________________________________________________________________________________________REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR SERVICES Page 14 of 28 LRPS-2023-9184810_________________________________________________________________________________________component. All other price proposals will receive points in inverse proportion to the lowest price; e.g.:Score for price proposal X = (Max. score for price proposal (30Points) * Price of lowest priced proposal) / Price of proposal XTotal obtainable Technical and Price points: 100The Proposer(s) achieving the highest combined technical and price score will (subject to any negotiations and the various other rights of UNICEF detailed in this RFPS) be awarded the LTA-S(s).]UNICEF will (subject to any negotiations and the various other rights of UNICEF detailed in this RFPS) award the LTA-S(s) to the vendor(s) providing the lowest priced technically compliant Proposal(s).]1.3 Multiple Arrangements. UNICEF reserves the right to make multiple arrangements for any service(s) where UNICEF considers it to be in its best interest to do so.1.4 Negotiation. UNICEF reserves the right to negotiate with the Proposer(s) that has/have attained the best rating/ranking, i.e. those providing the overall best value Proposal.1.5 Award Notification. UNICEF will only notify the Proposer(s) that has/have been awarded the LTA-S(s) resulting from this solicitation process; UNICEF may, but is not required to, notify the other Proposers of the outcome of this solicitation process.2. General Terms And Conditions Of Contract (Services)2.1 UNICEF's General Terms and Conditions of Contract (Services) will apply to any LTA-S and linked contract(s) awarded in connection with this RFPS. By signing the Request for Proposalfor Services Form, each Proposer is deemed to have confirmed its acceptance of the UNICEF General Terms and Conditions (Services). The Proposer understands that if it proposes any amendments or additional terms to the UNICEF General Terms and Conditions (Services),these must be clearly detailed in the Proposal and may negatively affect the evaluation of the Proposal.3. Rights of UNICEF3.1 UNICEF reserves the following rights:(a) to accept any Proposal, in whole or in part; to reject any or all Proposals; or to cancel this solicitation process in its entirety;(b) to verify any information contained in Proposer's response (and the Proposer will provide UNICEF with its reasonable cooperation with such verification);(c) to invalidate any Proposal received from a Proposer that, in UNICEF's sole opinion has previously failed to perform satisfactorily or complete contracts on time, or UNICEF believes is not in a position to perform the LTA-S;(d) to invalidate any Proposal that, in UNICEF's sole opinion, fails to meet the requirements and instructions stated in this RFPS;(e) to suspend negotiations or withdraw an award to a Proposer at any time up until an LTA-S has been signed with such Proposer. UNICEF is not required to provide any justification, but will give notice prior to any such suspension of negotiations or withdrawal of award.3.2 UNICEF is not liable to any Proposer for any costs, expense or loss incurred or suffered by such Proposer in connection with this RFPS or solicitation process, including, but not limited to, any costs, expense or loss incurred as result of UNICEF exercising any of its rights in paragraph 3.1 above.PART IV - REQUIREMENTS1. Price and Payment1.1 Price. The fee for the services and deliverables will be treated as inclusive of all costs, expenses, charges or fees that the Proposer may incur in connection with the performance of the work. The Proposer is invited to offer any unconditional discounts or cumulative volume discounts (i.e. discounts that increase as the cumulative order value increases throughout the validity of the LTA-S). Further, the Proposer may offer early payment discounts, i.e. payment within a specific period of time faster than UNICEF's standard payment terms of 30 days.
